I am writing a story and need help discribing a tornado scene?

Question

Can anyone give me an example of how a good tornado scene can be described?

Answer 1

Research. You would have to look up websites that describe the scenario. I wold also interview people who have been through them and meteorologists. I am a great believer in truth in fiction - don't cheat your readers with Wizard of Oz stuff. To make it real and exciting - do your homework. One source is Absolute Write Forum. You can actually got there and ask if anyone has had the experience who would be willing to talk to you. You can also contact a local TV station and ask to interview a weatherman. Also go to the library and use the microfiche to research tornados in newspapers. The more you know the better your scene will be. Pax - C

Answer 2

The sites below - which give eyewitness descriptions of tornados - may help:

A sample:

Just after 1:00 pm, one of the men spotted a tornado to the north, in the direction of an adjoining ranch.

Very much in the Mennonite tradition of assisting people after disasters, Henry Kuhns and eight other men left to see whether help was needed. When they saw that no buildings had been hit, they returned to the ranch to witness the most tragic moment of their lives. What may have been the next member of that tornado family was bearing down from the west, directly at the ranch house. Eighteen women and children inside were apparently unaware of the approach of an intense, 100-yard-wide funnel.

The men drove southward as fast as possible but, as they came to within 200 yards of the front gate, the house "trembled as if a giant unseen fist was shaking it." After a few seconds "the structure was ripped apart and its occupants hurled into the air." Ten of the 18 people died; nine of the 10 were children.
A muffled roar in the distance grew sharper and louder. As John began to move toward the house, he realized that the low, indistinct form in the distance was not rain or a patch of fog, but a rotating transparent cloud, beneath a dark mass of cloud extending under the southwest corner of the thunderstorm. An occasional snake-like form would briefly appear within the cloud, and then suddenly vanish. It was coming directly toward the farm.

At his next glance, three or four contorted and transparent columns would briefly circle the center of what looked like a patch of swirling mist. The cloud looked nothing like the thin funnels and ropes that he had seen in the distance every few years. He now ran at full speed for the house, trying with each gasp to shout "Cyclone!" Within the next few seconds, seven people would make life or death decisions about contentd possessions, about family members, and about self preservation. The rotating cloud had changed from transparent mist to solid brown mass at the edge of the newly plowed fields and continued to advance relentlessly on the small cluster of farm buildings.

With the edge of the vortex still to the southwest, the corner of the roof suddenly gave way and the 30-year-old cottonwood trees that surrounded the house began to snap. A powerful jet of air, flowing into the tornado, began ripping at the house and the entire building vibrated as the unearthly roar grew steadily louder. One child grabbed a prized locket from a dresser, another gazed at the barnyard full of panic-stricken animals, another yelled for the dog. The oldest stared in denial at her mother; the youngest just stood and cried.
Winds in excess of 200 mph created a pressure of 20 tons on the side of the small farm house and the building finally reached its limit of resistance. In an instant, a lifetime of work ..... walls, beams, plaster, furniture, tools, clothes, toys, books, and family treasures were all airborne. Some would fall only a few hundred feet away; smaller bits and pieces would be carried 120 miles. Sheet metal and boards flew across the barnyard at 150 feet per second, impaling anything that was standing. The 12-inch-thick hand-hewn sills, on which the house had sat for forty years, would hit the ground a quarter-mile away and plunge eight feet into the prairie soil. An entire cottonwood tree was found two miles away."

Answer 3

The link I've listed is a personal account (not mine) of the tornado that tore through Albion Pa in 1985. Scroll about half way down for the beginning of an excellent description of the carnage.

Answer 4

The mistake people make when writing description is trying to focus on everything. Narrow your lens, focus on one or two details. Example: How a truck is battered by the tornado or the way the pickets fly off of a fence.

Less is more.

Answer 5

I'm from Texas and have seen first hand the carnage of a tornado. Write about one ripping through a trailer park. God hates trailers, that's why he invented tornadoes.
A few years back, Gov. Richards was going to erect fake trailer parks in open areas to lure the tornadoes away from cities and towns.

Answer 6

first of all, ignore approximately people who're asserting issues like 'The Bible has bloody aspects, so it fairly is okay'. because of the fact you're a Christian, the recent testomony- extremely the 4 Gospels- are those appropriate to you, which at the instant are not bloody and gory yet condone peace. Secondly, none persons can say for valuable. Pray to God for know-how, and in case you experience it fairly is incorrect deep down, then it probable is. even with the shown fact that, I as a Christian novelist specializing interior the horror type, I write gory scenes myself. it may be stupid to pretend we are residing in a suitable international and write approximately butterflies and human beings bleeding chocolate syrup. What I do is write the gory scenes, yet make valuable they have a factor and on the top of the e book human beings go away with a Christian message. as an occasion, the protagonists in my tale are all atheists, yet after activities regarding crime and gore they start to coach somewhat to Christianity. i don't try this in an acerbic way- you do not % human beings to place your e book down because of the fact they experience the Bible is being bashed into them. Conclusively, if the top message is one in each and every of robust on a similar time as accrediting Christ, i think of it fairly is okay.

Answer 7

An eerie stillness as if Nature was holding her breath foollowed by a sudden whirlwind exhale. Drowning in torrents of air.